The Gods of War
by Gunshin
Summary: In the years following the events of Endless Waltz the Earth Sphere has reached a new level of peace and enlightenment. There are still those who cannot forget the past or their long laid plans and seek to destroy that peace forever.
1. Prologue

Prologue

A tall dark haired woman nervously paced in a brightly lit and overly sterile waiting room. Unread magazines were piled on top of the cheaply made tables nestled between barely comfortable chairs. She stole quick glances at the operating room through the opaque portholes in the double doors that separated her from her life's work, waiting. A slowly pulsing red lighted sign blinked above the door. It's crimson letters taunting her with its warning, "Do Not Enter." 'Will it work? Will he survive?' She could not quell her raging thoughts as they threatened to shatter her waning sanity. Suddenly the light blinked no more and all time seemed to stop. In an instant she blew through the double doors and into the room. Like the waiting room it was overly sterile with no sign of color on the cleanly bleached walls. It was filled with surgeons, technicians and every possible medical instrument she could name, and a few she could not. Her eyes darted first to the young boy restrained to the table then to the monitors, desperately seeking any result other than what she feared. With a sigh of great relief she realized they all read: Stable. Her eyes once again settled on the patient. She could see where his light brown hair should have been upon his freshly shaved scalp and his well-defined muscles on his right arm but not much else, he was to be the epitome of a lifetime of work finally realized, or so she hopped. Tentatively she asked, "Is it working?"

"Just waiting on you ma'am," responded the technician to her left. He was an average looking man, though like everyone he wore a surgical mask and scrubs so his features were obscured from her. He sat at a console waiting for the command. He seemed to look overly uneasy at the boy. Then as if he sensed her thoughts, "Ma'am, are you sure about this? I mean he is your..."

He ground to a halt under the power of her penetrating and icy glare, "Just do it," was her frigid response to his unfinished question.

She heard him swallow audibly; he had overstepped his bounds this time and she would see to it that he was punished for it. He did as he was told and started the activation protocol. A low hum gradually filled the room as all the machinery in the room slowly came to life around them. As the decibels grew so did the anticipation as every eye centered on the lone boy still restrained on the table. He just lay there perfectly still on the cold hard operating table with the lights reflected off his smooth, bald head. She enjoyed a moment of brief satisfaction at noticing there were no signs of cutting to his scalp, 'Good, the dermal regenerator is working perfectly,' the hum grew to near deafening level to the point where everyone wondered why they had not brought ear protection, but then abruptly stopped and plunged the room into complete and utter silence.

For a long moment no one even dared to breath. Just as she started to feel something might have gone awry her eyes caught the slightest bit of movement. The boy's fingers started to slowly curl and relax, curl and relax. The boys breathing was slow and steady and the instruments shown his vitals returning to normal. The room erupted into joyous cheers for he had survived the procedure. Everyone was overjoyed and patting each other on the backs except the woman, she just waited and watched. Without indication or prior warning the abruptly boy started to convulse violently. His body thrashed desperately against his restraints, fighting for his very life it seemed. He arched his back lifting his body off the table. The monitors all went ballistic showing readings that didn't even make sense. Everyone heard the creaking of metal as the table strained against the stress of his powerful arms and legs. Instinctively everyone took a step back from their creation as if they feared he may be able to break free at any moment.

"My god…" whispered one of the technicians though she was not sure who fore she could not take her eyes off of the convulsing boy.

Just as quickly as it had started the boy stopped and dropped back down to the table, and with a sigh shared by all, the boy was perfectly still. The monitors were all showing error messages then so no one was sure what to do. The boy was breathing normally so once again the room breathed a sigh of relief when suddenly the boy's eyes snapped open and emitted a cold, unholy, yellow glow, and that was when he screamed.

"Miss Relena!" Herald, a young political aid, called as he trotted across the backstage area of the opera house towards the young women. She stood about 5'2'' with long blond hair reaching the small of her back, being restrained by a blue silk ribbon. He came to a stop just as Relena's serene face and deep blue eyes turned towards him. She always installed confidence in her aids with that never wavering smile and he was no exception. He had never felt that he was a very important man in his line of work, but when she looked upon him he always felt as any head of state must, that they were the sole facet of her entire world. It was quite intoxicating.

"Yes Herald, is it quick? I am due to speak in front of the entire World Nation in a few moments." She was short but not harshly so. She smiled and her smiled seemed to emit its' own light that warmed all around her.

Herald was quick so as not to delay her but this was far too important to wait, "I am sorry Vice Foreign Minister but we just received a report from the Preventer's that I was advised must be brought to you this instant." He handed her his charge, a small folder labeled Top Secret. As she carefully reviewed its contents he looked nervously around the room. He could see the stage where Relena was due for her speech and the podium prominently in the middle littered with microphones. He knew there must be thousands of men and women in attendance from the sheer hum of noise coming through the thick burgundy colored curtains that blocked his view of the main hall. He did notice a few members of security standing discretely by the exits; they seemed to be the only other people there. Relena always kept her security light; she felt having too many would off put the people she met with on a day to day basis.

"So the munitions due for disposal in warehouses 1a-5d have all gone missing? That is very troubling, we should…"

She quieted as one of her security approached, "I am very sorry to interrupt Ma'am but it is time."

She sighed and glanced to her watch, "Yes thank you Thomas," she turned back to Herald and handed him the report. "I will address this the moment I am done here. Wait right here for me."

Herald could not help but smiled and reply somewhat sheepishly, "Ma'am I would not miss one of your speeches for the world, I have a seat front and center to experience it properly."

To his surprise her smiled seemed to intensify for a brief moment, "Alright but meet me back here right after." He nodded his emphatic agreement and then rushed to make it back to his seat before she took stage. When he finally made it into the auditorium he was not disappointed by the turnout. It was filled to the brim with everyone from reporters to heads of state to just regular people who all came to experience this first hand. He knew millions of others were watching from the comfort of their own homes as well. Her speeches were always big events and he cherished his unique access to them. He found his seat quickly enough and got comfortable just as Miss Relena gracefully took the stage.

Herald further settled back into his seat as she began to speak, her voice ringing out through the large speakers in the hall. He had followed her career for over a decade, ever since she was known as Queen Relena during the war. It was then that she captured his heart with her sincere kindness and strong leadership. As soon as the war ended and she took up her role as the Vice Foreign Minister in the new government that followed he knew he wanted to be in her corner. It always puzzled him why should have never sought a higher post. He knew if she had ever run for President she would win by a landslide and yet she seemed happy where she was.

He let her calming words wash over him like a gentle breeze and found himself nodding along. He knew what the topic was going to be about beforehand but he never tired of hearing her speak. She was gaining steam and he could feel she was reaching her apex. He sat a little straighter in anticipation for what was to come. She raised her hand to accent her point when without warning that room was filled with what surly must have been an explosion. His ears rang as the rest of the room fell silent. Time seemed to stop as Herald looked upon Relena and he saw for the first time her sapphire eyes filled with shock and confusion as she slowly fell backwards, leaving behind a podium covered in a crimson spray.


	2. Chapter 1

**Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: The Gods of War**

By: Gunshin

Chapter 1: Rebirth

_The year is After Colony 203; following the assassination of Vice Foreign Minister Relena Dorlin, anarchy shatters the World Nations resolve. As the primary leader in the promotion of pacifism and unity, her death effectively served to rend the delicate threads that held the Earths Nations together. Feuds soon began to rekindle as nations vied for dominancy in the ever shifting scale of power. Since there was no clear evidence on who to blame, newly reformed nations soon began lashing out at one another in violent conflicts. The colonies attempted to remain neutral, but soon found themselves taking sides with the various nations of the earth, marking the first time in history the colonies stood divided. Most nations found that their military forces, diminished due to the demilitarization advocated by Relena, were not able to handle the new and highly escalating wars. To bolster their standard forces, many nations began to hire Mercenary companies that seemed to spring up overnight and were surprisingly well armed. Many believed that with Relenas' death, so died any hope of peace._

"Welcome Sister! Welcome to your new home!" The joyous words resounded through the stone walls of the Sanctuary like the pure tones of a silver bell. The tall slender frame of Father Davis turned from his endless tasks to greet the new arrival, "I hope you find your time here at the Maxwell Church most rewarding."

His warm smile welcomed Sister Maria as no pronouncement could and she couldn't help but smile back. Father Davis was very well recognized for his works and much celebrated amongst the church community, but you wouldn't recognize his fame as such fore he only wore the simplest of black priestly robes and a small but prominent white collar. His hair was cut short and slicked back showing off its wavy contours, it shown the bright white of a man who was far older than his years in this life. The Sister picked up her pace to close the gap between them, trying not to make a man of such esteem wait. She crossed the short rows of pews to meet him upon the dais, and was startled when her outreached hand was grasped but only as a hold to pull her into a strong embrace. A little surprised, she stepped back from the friendly surround and managed to stammer out, "Th-Thank you Father, I must say I wasn't expecting such a warm welcome." She bowed a bit bashfully to the man far her superior in both accomplishments and rank. She was still new to the clergy but had more often than not seen only the curtest of welcomes in her new assignments. "You are aware that I have only been assigned here temporarily to help with the sudden influx in the orphanage? I may only be here a couple weeks; just until we get the children settled into their new homes or until you can get more permanent help."

"Of course I am my dear but I would give anyone just as big a welcome no matter the length of their stay. As long as you are here, be it a week or 10 years, this is your home and I expect you to think of it as such," his smile broadened a little then. "Besides, every bit of help is a gift from God during these perilous times." He spoke of the recent outbreak of fighting that had begun to crop up in the surrounding area; it seemed the colonies were not as immune to Earth's struggles as they might have wished. He ushered her into his office through a small cleverly hidden wooden door tucked to one side out of sight of the pews. He went on to explain he liked it that way so that after sermons he could whisk himself away and no one would see where. She soon realized he has a bit of the flare for the dramatic and liked to use that to spice up what could otherwise be considered boring. They entered a small office that was comprised of a few smallish rooms. The desks within were covered with paperwork and knickknacks of various sizes and types. The Father directed her to place her things to one side of the office while he gave her the grand tour, upon the word 'grand' he did a sweeping stroke of his arm that made his robes flow like a cape. He then led her out yet another small door that brought them into an interior hallway.

This was her first visit to the space colonies and though everything seemed perfectly normal as far as the buildings and the people were concerned, there was still going to be some getting used to it. For one thing the air tasted odd, not bad per se but not natural like being in a large enclosed complex that had no windows to let fresh air in. For another she always felt a sort of vertigo when she peered into the sky to see that the landscape arced upwards to form the inside of the rotating cylinder that provided their gravity. She had seen pictures before but seeing it firsthand caused her to feel like the ground was trying to topple over onto her like a giant tilde wave of cityscape. Adding to the peculiarity of this assignment was the history of this particular church. She had been briefed when they had assigned her and she had done some independent research on her own as well but the questions dug at the back of her mind. She had discovered that a church stood on this same spot in this same colony in the L2 sector, but it had been destroyed during the war for control of the colonies nearly two decade ago. It had been run by a Father Maxwell who had been, by all accounts, a very kind man who loved children which is cited for the reason it too had an orphanage. The land stood vacant even after all the fighting had ceased due to lack of funds to rebuild it after so much destruction of that war, until out of the blue some mysterious backer made a substantial donation to the local Bishop with the explicit instructions that it was to be used to rebuild this church, on this spot, with that name, and it was to maintain an orphanage. They honored the benefactor's wishes and rebuilt the church per his instructions, and due to the amount it was far grander than it had been previously. 'I only wish the orphanage wasn't needed so desperately, this needless fighting has cost so many so very much.' She thought solemnly. The hallway eventually opened up to be a walkway that formed the perimeter of a courtyard containing a small playground. She witnessed the youths that were to be her charges playing as if the troubles of the world no longer existed.

"To be young again," chimed in Father Davis, cutting her musing short. "I wish we all had that ability, to get lost and forget all but the games we play, if only for a short time."

She nodded and brought he gaze back to the children. She felt feelings of unease in a strange environment being suppressed a bit when faced with such a familiar display. Her eye was unfortunately drawn off to one side of the general group where she saw another far too familiar sight. There she witness three tall boys surrounding a fourth smaller boy. The taller ones appeared to be a few years older than the fourth and they obviously used that to their advantage.

Father Davis followed her gaze, "Ah yes, them again," he sighed with brief exasperation and shook is head. The sister was beginning to wonder if she should do something when out of the corner of her eye she sees the father, still standing as calm and realized as before, swell his chest like a rooster welcoming the sun. He then opened his mouth and nearly knocked her over with the volume of what came out, "Jeremy, Mitch, George, that's enough! Break it up or by the lord all three of you will be on floor duty for three weeks!" The boys scatter without even looking for the source of the threat, as the trotted in opposite directions the feigned as much innocents as they could muster, but not before getting one last shove in on the smaller child.

The boy pulled himself to his feet and brushed himself off. With the other boys gone she finally got a good look at time. He was defiantly small for his age, about 9 if she guessed correctly, with plain brown hair cut short and unkempt. He had a medium to small build but was surprisingly toned for someone that young. Other than that there seemed to be nothing special about him at all, that was until he looked at her. He had deep dark blue eyes that seemed to look through you, as if you weren't even there. She felt herself take a step back under the weight of this small child's gaze. "Who is that?" She managed to keep a quiver out of her voice.

"That my dear, is a mystery to us all." She gave him a quizzical look begging him to continue, "Well about a year ago he showed up on our doorstep. He looked as if he had personally journeyed into the gates of hell and back. Some rescue workers found him in the remains of a resource satellite owned by the Medicom Corporation. It had had some sort of industrial accident which completely destroyed the facility. He, unfortunately, was the only survivor, and I fear that he only survived due to the help of some poor fellow that was found with him. According to the works the man hand managed to jettison a portion of the facility for the rest before the catastrophe engulfed the entire structure." The Father sighed again, this time out of sadness, "He rarely speaks so we do not know much about him, I am not even sure he know much himself."

"Do we even know his name?" This concept concerned her quite a bit, "our names are how we define ourselves to the outside world."

"We tried to give him several, but he won't respond to any of them. The only name that he will respond to is Boy." Suddenly his eyes light up with the spark of memory, "If you are interested he did have one thing on him at the time he was found. We assumed it was from the man we found him with. Please follow me." He led her back down the hallway into the office and made a beeline for a file cabinet. "Ah here it is," he smiled as he pulled out a thin file and handed it to her.

The file was titled simply 'Boy.' She quickly peered inside to find some generic paper work kept on all the children, as well as a small envelop. Looking to the Father for permission she opened it to find a set of what appeared to be military dog tags. Etched into the metal was: Gunshin X105-23. "Gunshin?" she asked confused, "Isn't that the name of one of the mythical Japanese gods of war?"

"Yes it is," he responded with a shrug. "The god of war and warriors and that is all he had on his person when he was rescued."

Sister Maria peered at the tags for what seemed like an eternity before finally breaking her almost hypnotic stare. She wasn't sure what to make of this but she knew she had to do something for this child.

Suddenly Father Davis interrupted her musings. "Let us continue with the rest of the tour, and then we can get you settled into your new quarters." He gestured for her to precede him into the next room. And so she began her life with this new assignment and eventually fell into routine for the new addition to the Maxwell Church family.

Boy sat under his usual oak tree, he liked it there. For some reason he always felt more comfortable with his back against something solid. Unlike the churches newest nun who always wanted to ask him questions, he had been hounded by her all 6 months she had been there, he rarely thought about himself or where he came from. He nestled himself further into the comfort of the large tree and sunk farther into his book. It was entitled Custer's Last Stand and he was enjoying it tremendously. He had been so engrossed in the Generals plight that he almost growled when his enjoyment was interrupted by raised voices. He calmly raised his glance above the book in his lap to see a small boy, no older than 7 being pushed around by three of the older boys. The three larger boys were known among most of the children as the bully brigade for good reason. They had been trying to torment Boy for over a year. The bullies were lead by Lonny, a boy who had had an earlier than normal growth spurt and love to throw that extra mass around. He had back curly hair and dull brown eyes which never shown with much intelligence. The boy they were tormenting was named Timmy he realized and even though his cries were a bit piteous Boy decided it wasn't his problem and went back to his reading.

Timmy had short blond hair and green eyes. He was a small kid even for his age, so Lonny had no problem shoving him hard enough to topple him like a house of cards. The playground was flooded with a sudden wail of agony as Timmy clutches his arm. He had fallen on it hard and Boy was sure he must have broken something.

Lonny went right in with the goading, "Oh come on, I barely touched you. You are such a little weak cry baby!" Several kids run to get the Nuns as Timmy lays there wailing, "See what you did now? You're gonna get me in trouble you cry baby!" With that Lonny kicked Timmy right in the gut. The kick connected squarely on the diaphragm, knocking the wind out of him. The sounds suddenly shift as Timmy gasped for air.

"Leave. Him. Alone." Silence fell over the playground, even the birds seem to quiet, as everyone turned to see the source of such a fierce command.

Lonny looked franticly to his right and left looking for the priest who uttered the command, he needed to come up with a good excuse and fast! Finally his eyes rested on Boy. He had come across him infrequently in his tenure here since he was so quiet. He wasn't going to let this little punk scare him, so he replied, "Yeah and who's gonna make me?"

Boy stood to his full height, which was still several inches shorter than Lonny, and stared him down, from under his tree. Though to be honest, he was just as surprised as anyone when he piped up.

"A shrimp like you wants to stand up to me? You don't even have a name and you think you can stand up to me, The Lonster?" The pride he put on the was rather sad when you thought of how stupid it sounded, but Boy didn't really have the luxury of time to think about that. Boy had never been in a fight before and he had a feeling he was about to be in one. Lonny walked right up to Boy, stopping mere inches from his face. Now that the two stood together it was clear that Lonny was a full head taller and a lot bigger. "Do you have a death wish?" He asked as the two of them circled each other. After they had switched places Boy stopped moving. He wanted to be between Lonny and Timmy.

"Leave him alone," repeated Boy, looking Lonny right in the eyes with as fiery a glare as he could muster.

Lonny had to laugh, "You think you can tell me what to do?!" Without a second thought he pulled his right fist back to give this kid the walloping he richly deserved. "You asked for it!" cried Lonny as he let loose his fist like a cat pouncing on an easy meal.

In that very moment, something clicked in Boys' head. Suddenly everything seemed to slow down and become perfectly clear. He could see birds off in the distance, they seemed to be hovering motionless in the sky, and then there was Lonny's fist. It seemed to be moving as if it were in slow motion. He side stepped the blow with ease, and without thinking, caught Lonny's wrist with his right hand, and then in a flash of movement, spun with his left elbow connecting cleanly on the left side of his opponents' skull. He released Lonny's hand and spun back around, and in the same fluid motion struck him right in the ribs with the butt of his hand. The sound of crunched ribs seemed to reverberate through the grounds as Lonny is propelled through the air to crash into the tree. There he collapsed motionless.

The entire fight had happened so fast no one was really sure they had seen it correctly. Boy was stunned, he had no idea how he did that. His body moved on his own. That was when his head started to hurt. It almost felt as if something was awakening within him. The small burning sensation began and then intensified tenfold in an instant causing him to grab his head, 'What is this! What's going on!' Images start to flash before his eyes, but they are too jumbled to organize, too hard to see. He grasped his head as if to keep his brains from coming out his ears, the pain was unbearable. Then as quickly as it had begun, there was nothing, the sweet release of blackness.

Boy collapsed lifeless on the ground just as Sister Maria reached him.

A young boy brown haired crept quietly through dark metal hallways just as he had been taught so many times before. He saw that the door to the next room was left slightly ajar as he slowly slinked closer to the blade of light cutting through the darkness. As he approached he started to hear voices, "…and that's why I think that 23 is our best subject to date," came a strong male voice. "He has shown remarkable adaptation to the system. No memory loss, no loss of cognitive use, not even a nervous twitch. Also he has taken to the training like he was born to do this." The young boy peered through the small opening to see two men talking to a dark haired woman. She sat behind a giant oak desk covered in data pads, leaning back in an oversized chair.

"So he is our best candidate then," stated the woman. She seemed pleased by this, almost proud. The boy could have sworn he saw a smile tugging at her the corners of her lips. "Then we should do the final augmentations immediately."

Without warning the screen behind her flared to life. "Ma'am, there is a problem." The boy could not see who was talking, the woman's chair obscured most of the screen, but the voice sounded very distressed. "Some of the mobile dolls have activated without authorization!"

"They have what?!" She spun in her chair to face the screen and tapped furiously at the console there. Now the child could see the screen clearly. The image of the man changed to a segmented view of the several hangers. There were mobile suits there, but instead of sitting lazily in their bays as they always seemed to be doing when he was around, they were moving and destroying everything in sight. "Shut them down now!" demanded the woman.

"We can't ma'am; they are not accepting the abort codes!" Suddenly the room shook violently as the sounds of explosions started to bleed through the thick walls.

"How could this be happening?" With those confused and desperate last words a single beam of green energy erupted from the ceiling and sheared off half of the room. The two men stared in absolute amazement as they now steed at the newly formed ledge overlooking one of the hangers. Before them was a large black and red suit. Spikes protruded from its head and shoulders and it bore a small beam saber of menacing green light. For the first time the child could see into the rest of the facility. He had only been allowed into certain areas and had had no idea of the scope. The hanger was enormous, it must have house hundreds of suits. Which were now uncontrollably destroying everything in sight. The suit standing before turned to wreak havoc elsewhere.

The two men stood there absolutely stunned. "Amelia…" whispered one of the men in utter shock. The other man turned and bolted for the door. He was in such a rush; he knocked the boy on the ground as he blew through. That was when the first man noticed the child. "Gunshin, what are you doing here?!" There was panic in his voice as he stared at the confused boy, unsure of what to do. Gunshin couldn't react before the man took action. He ran out of the destroyed room and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him to his feet; he then proceeded to practically dragged him down the hall.

The two of them ran as fast as they could. "Son, we have to get to the airlock. There will be space suits there…" His speech is cut off as the hall shook with another explosion. They were both knocked down by the ferocity of the shacking. It was as if the facility was tearing itself apart. Gunshin struck his head on the metal wall and sat on the ground dazed, not being able to see or hear or even think.

Slowly his vision returned to see the hallway was damaged and the man was leaning against the wall holding his stomach. Something drew Gunshins' eyes to that hand as he saw something red flowing from between the fingers and pooling on the floor. "Dad!" he cried.

"Hurry son, help me up….I have an idea." A trickle of blood started to appear from the corner of his mouth as he spoke, but there was something in his eyes that beckoned Gunshin to forward, to move, to live. He lifted his father up and helped him farther down the hall to a console in the wall. These consoles were every few hundred feet in the corridors and they activated emergency doors in case of loss of structural integrity of the facility. That way if there was a breach they could seal it off without getting all their air, and crew, sucked into the void of space. There he furiously taped away at the keys.

With a quick, WHOOSH, the emergency doors seal on either side of their section of the corridor. The now isolated section of corridor shook violently as words Jettison Complete appeared on the screen. 'Jettison?' thought Gunshin quizzically as he wondered what the word meant.

For a minute, everything quieted seemed like it may be safe, but then the entire corridor rocked violently again. Gunshin was not sure what to do; his training didn't cover anything like this all that he knew and had learned to this point was useless. He braced his father against the wall and tried to steady himself. A loud crackling sound filled the room in an instant. Without warning the lights exploded into a thousand shards and the console erupted like a volcano of glass, plastic and metal. His father was knocked back, away from him, but before he could go to him, a still live wire from the console lodged into the back of his shirt. A searing white pain filled his body as everything went dark.

"NOOOOOO!" Gunshin screamed as he shot upright in his bed. He franticly searched the walls of his base apartment to find any sign of intrusion but saw none, 'It was just that dream again,' he thought to himself. He shook his head and rose out of the bed. He placed the Glock 17 he kept under his pillow, but had grabbed the moment he awoke on his bedside table. He slowly got out of his bed and began to dress. Absentmindedly he turned on the TV. It was the nightly news, and it was just starting. "Welcome and thank you for watch the channel 5 five o'clock news. I am Katty Krenshaw, let's start with weather. Tom?"

"Thanks Katty, it has been beautifully sunny day on this, January 5th, After Colony 210."

"Beautiful huh," mumbled Gunshin. His apartment was a one room run down husk that might have passed as a stable if it were cleaned up a bit, with only a mattress, the TV, a hot plate, a table, and a mirror. He peered at the figure standing before him in the smudged mirror; he was only 16 but he looked as if he was in his early 20. He had broad shoulders and a strong but toned build. His body was that of a fighter, and it had the scars to prove it.

'Time to go to work,' he thought to himself before he paused only long enough to grab his keys and lock the door behind him. He was headed down to the Broken Sprocket, a local tavern where he liked to conduct business. It was only a few blocks down the road, but as always he took the 'scenic route.' He ducked through alleys and side streets, going the wrong way, then the right again. He never took the same way to or from the bar and his home twice.

As he arrived at the bar he took a moment to have a quick look around the place. Off to the left there was a man by the jukebox trying to pick out a song. He was tall, but not too muscular. He held himself like a man who could handle himself in a fight, but only if he had to. Another man sat at the bar and was far too drunk to do much more than attempt to sing whatever music he heard in his head. To his right there were a group of four men, probably ex-military; 'ex' because from the look of their beer bellies they hadn't seen any real action in a quite a while. Each held themselves with great confidence, a bit of a swagger when they moved. Finally in the back there was a young girl. She struck him as off because she couldn't have been more than 14 or 15, yet here she was in this shady tavern. She was small and her hair was black and if he had to guess she was probably Asian. He could not see her face clearly enough to tell for she had her head down and was scribbling something feverishly on a napkin. Though it was odd to see a girl of that age in a bar like this, it was not unheard of. The chaos created 10 years ago by what was now being called, the Great Divide, had left many territories in dire straits. Many countries had to fight to survive, including the colonies. Therefore laws like a legal drinking age were rarely enforced as strictly as they were in times of peace.

'Either way, not my concern,' he went to the bar and ordered a drink. One of the most valuable things to have was information in the current client. If you had information on troop movements or weapon counts of a rival force, you could sell it for a nice chunk of credits. And when you had no national allegiances, it made it a lot easier to get useful information on any faction you needed. Unfortunately it didn't seem as if any off duty personnel had come in tonight from the nearby base he had been watching the last few months. So Gunshin sat himself down and decided he would relax with a drink and see if any wandered in. He would throw back a few drinks without worry of intoxication. No matter how much he had it just seemed to filter through his system like water. Of course this place was known for watering down their drinks pretty badly.

A few hours pass and people came and went, but still no soldiers. Starting to get disgruntled he decided to play some darts with another patron that seemed to be having a bad time of it. Maybe swindling some poor chump out of a few credits would lighten his mood, and pay for his drinks.

He was a couple games in when, "Hey little missy, you lost?" came the slurred voice to his right. It was one of those ex-soldiers that had been hanging around all day. He had watched as they had consumed quite a bit during their time here, and was wondering when they would just pass out. The largest of the men had meandered his was to the little girl in the back of the room, who had spent the whole day furiously scribbling on her napkins. "Come on and let me help you." The open ended offer was accentuated by a loud belch.

The girl looked quite disgusted and got up to try to leave, but he didn't let her get far. The drunken man grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. "Come on I only wanna help…you smell nice…" With that, he leaned in closer and puckered his lips. The girl desperately struggled against his arm, but was no match for his strength, even while drunk.

She starts to cry out for help, but no one so much as moved. The people simply hunched in closer to their various drunks and wished they would leave so they could wallow in peace. This was the kind of area that people knew when not to get involved. The man pulled her closer and she pinched her eyes shut, simply wishing for him to go away. Then, nothing happened. She felt his grip loosen and heard a loud thud. She carefully and slowly opened one eye just a bit to see what was going on and saw that the man was sprawled out on the floor in front of her, unmoving. The girl, unsure of what just happened, stared in shock at the body. There in the back of the man's neck was a throwing dart, buried halfway up the shaft, directly into his spine.

No one in the bar moved for a long moment, 'How did that happen?' was the resounding thought. Then one of the man's friends jumped out of his chair and ran to his buddy and on inspection said, "A dart?!" With that all eyes in the room swiveled to the dart board, and the only man with darts currently in his hands, Gunshin. He calmly throws another dart at the board as if he didn't notice his new found attention. "Hey you, what the hell did you just do?!" hollers the drunken ex-soldiers leaning over his former comrades body. The rest of them were on their feet now as well.

"Me?" asked Gunshin innocently, "I just missed the board, sorry 'bout that"

"You just…YOU JUST…!" The man was sputtering with anger; he could not even fathom such a brazen comment. Though the alcohol didn't aid in this endeavor either, "YOU JUST MISSED THE FUCKING BOARD?!" His comrade's obviously shared in his alarm and anger for they all began to ball their fists and advance. Gunshin seemed to ignored them and go back to his game. One of the men lunged to the bar and grabbed a half drunken bottle of beer off it. He threw it as hard as he could right for Gunshins' head.

In a flash Gunshins' arm shot up and plucked the bottle out of the air as if it were a paper airplane. He lightly placed it on the table next to him without spilling a drop and continued his game.

"Why you little," spit is flung from the first man's angry drunkard jowls as he pulled a concealed side arm. "You think you can do this to us and get away with it! Take this!" He took aim on his enemy as people dove under tables or behind the bar for cover.

SMASH!

Gunshin wasn't sure what had happened for a moment and neither was the man from the very confused look on his face, but then it became clear as his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the floor. There where he had been standing was the little girl holding a broken beer bottle. The two remaining men turn on her in an instant.

"Duck!" bellowed Gunshin as he, in one smooth motion, turned to his left and swept his right leg through the bottom of the small side table next to him, snapping the single column wooden leg out from the table top, then snagged the edge of the top with his right hand before it had a chance to fall and hurled it like a Frisbee across the bar. The girl dropped down just in time for the projectile to sail over her head and collide with both men's craniums. Gunshin, in an alarming burst of speed leapt over the bar counter top and grabbed the girl by the arm. He pulled her off her feet as he barreled out of the front door into the crowded streets, leaving only repair bills and some very confused employees and patrons behind.

As they rushed down the street, the girl finally spoke up, "Wow, that was close wasn't it?" Gunshin slowed their pace, and eventually ducked into an alleyway to take a breath. After checking to make sure no one followed them he turned back to her. "I'm Kim!" She broke in before he could open his mouth. The pep in her voice was almost sickening, "And you are?"

"Not involved." Came his icy response as he made his way to walk out of the alley and leave her there. He wasn't even sure why had come this far.

"Hey wait! I saved your life," called Kim as she hurried after him. Before they got very far however, the sound of sirens filled the air.

'Wait those aren't police sirens.' Came Gunshins' startling realization, they were the militaries police. 'Why would they get involved?'

"Dang, they caught up with me!" Gunshin turned to face Kim, surprised, but before he could inquire, she grabbed his arm and bolted down an adjoining ally. She pulled out a small PDA and type furiously as she ran, "There!" She grabbed his arm again and pulled him down a little offshoot until they came to a small round door in the ground. It was similar to a manhole, but was obviously designed to slide to the side rather than be lifted up. She had found an access point to the internal tunnels of the colony. She pulled a cable form the PDA and plugged it into a small port of the door and continued to type almost franticly now.

'Who is this kid?' he thought to himself. The door slid away to reveal the waiting shaft in mere seconds, "How did you?"

"No time- follow me!" She jumped down the hole with surprising agility, leaving Gunshin alone with, from the sound of the sirens, the approaching forces just around the corner.

Gunshin, with no other options, jumped in after her. The door slid shut behind them and it was quiet again. Gunshin took in his surroundings for a moment. They were in a seemingly endless and poorly lit hallway. It was made of a metal with a mat finish and had obviously been used quite a bit judging by the scuffmarks all over the floor. Every few hundred feet or so there were off shooting tunnels and various access terminals. "Where are we?"

"We are in the Colonies service tunnels; I use them to get around a lot. I feel we should be leaving though. Those guys are relentless. Come on, it's this way." She hurried down the hallway a few feet and made a sharp right at one of the off shoots.

Gunshin followed her to find her hurriedly putting on a EVA space suit. 'The colony technicians must use them to work on the outside.' thought Gunshin as he watched her put on the oversized suit.

She handed him one then and, opening up the helmets comm. unit, "Hurry up and get it on, they'll be here soon!"

Gunshin pulled on the suit, not sure why he was listening to this little girl but he didn't really see many other options. He wasn't sure what good the space suit would do to hide his identity either. The MP's would have gotten his description and found where he lived long before he could get home and the mask of this suit was clear. 'Besides who walks around in a suit anyways?' He watched as she tapped away at yet another panel with the same alarming speed she showed topside. Suddenly the wall closes behind him and it suddenly became apparent that they are in an air lock. "Wait, what are you doing!" He demanded, but it was too late. He had just enough time to shove his helmet on before the door shot open and the air drained out of the room completely, creating a vacuum which unceremoniously sucked them out into empty space. He was certain that there were safety measures in place to make sure the airlock didn't create this exact situation, so she must have disabled them

For the second time in his life Gunshin is completely helpless. All that he knew was completely meaningless. The best case scenario was that someone realized what had happened and picked them up before their air ran out and they were both arrested for the bar and whatever crime she had committed. As Gunshin tried desperately to determine a course of action, a light appeared in the darkness of space, 'A door?!' Shocked Gunshin stared as the blinding light became clearer and yes, it was a door, a door floating in the middle of empty space. Inside he could see what appeared to be a cargo hold filled with crates and storage devices of various sizes and shapes. "What the hell is that?!"

Kim said nothing and just smiled as they drifted into the cargo hold. As soon as they had made it inside, the door started to shut behind them with a loud SHUNK. Instinctually, Gunshin grabbed a crate and stopped his forward movement. Kim yanks off her helmet as soon as the door is fully closed and turned to face him with a big smile, catching herself on a railing, and said, "This, my new friend, is the Wanderer."


End file.
